all those pretty lights
by Blake0Tyler
Summary: Because really, all the world's a stage and we're the stories in the end. – a collection of Next Generation one-shots.
1. DominiqueLysander

**A/N: Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that this is going to be ****another one of those one-shot collections. In this case it will be the place where I'm going to post my shorter NextGen stories. I know lots of other people already have a collection like this, but it's a good idea, so here's my attempt =) First pairing is Dominique/Lysander, but I'm going to write other pairings as well. You can also request a pairing if you'd like. Hope you all like this and have a nice day! Please review! =) – Lauren **

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**Pairing: **Dominique/Lysander

:::

If this is what love feels like, she thinks she'd rather get eaten by the Giant Squid.

She watches him, with his oh so _perfect_ golden hair and those _beautiful_ blue eyes and his freaking _amazing_ body (right…) and really, all that flashes through her mind is that she just doesn't getit. How on earth is it possible that half of the female population of Hogwarts is in love with this annoying, arrogant, insensitive _jerk_?

She's outside by the lake, and she's been watching little Lily and her fellow Slytherin friends stalk after him like he's bloody Salazar himself for at least half an hour now. And ok, she has to admit that he does look rather good, especially with his hair all messy and the top buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and all that… But apart from that there is nothing, absolutely _nothing _good or nice to say about Lysander Scamander. His bloody ego is about the same size as the entire United Kingdom altogether.

He catches her looking at him, and he actually waves, making the possibility of turning around and pretending she didn't see him quite impossible. "Weasley!"

She sighs. "Scamander."

He grins and his eyes are more blue than ever and _Godric, _what the hell is going on between the two of them? Why can't they just fight? Why can't he just say something insulting so that can try to insult him even more, like they've been doing for _years_? "Want to go swimming with me?"

She glares angrily at him, trying to look disgusted at the idea. "No, thank you."

His grin widens, "Sucks for you then."

And before she can even reply he runs up to her, pushing her straight into the lake, jumping after her, before she has the opportunity to protest. The water is freezing, her uniform is completely soaked within a second, and she's really not a big fan of swimming, so when she comes up for air, she just _snaps_. For Christ's sake – she has bloody classes to attend in a few minutes! 

"You – _you – _"

He simply smiles at her. "What? You're gonna tell me you didn't enjoy that?"

She scoffs, hitting him against his chest, ignoring the people laughing and pointing at them. Stupid idiot with that stupid hair and those stupid eyes and that stupid, beaming smile of his…

He lets him hit her and then slowly reaches out to tug one of her wet curs behind her ear, still grinning. "Watch it, Weasley. You don't want to get eaten by the Giant Squid, would you? I heard he has a thing for angry girls."

She tries to look stern, but really, he's making all of this way too… _something_. So she can't help it; the corners of her mouth twitch up slightly, even though she desperately tries to control herself. "You're impossible, Scamander."

He grins back. "You're pretty, Weasley."

She blushes, and then splashes a handful of water in his eyes.

Maybe she wouldn't prefer to get eaten by a gigantic sea monster after all.


	2. MollyChas

**Pairing: Molly/OC**

:::

She's not interested in guys like him.

He's a little bit awkward, his hair looks like it's been electrified several times and his Ravenclaw tie is tied very incorrectly around his neck. They meet for the first time in the library, because he's supposed to make sure she doesn't fail her Astronomy exam in two months, and he accidentally knocks over an entire bookshelf when she shakes his hand. She sighs, her long practiced Slytherin attitude doing it's job rather well. And honestly, this must be the stupidest thing she's ever agreed to do. He's a _fourth _year after all and he's Dominique's idiotic best friend and if anyone of her friends ever finds out about this, she will kill him.

But then he smiles at her like _that_, and really, he shouldn't be able to do that to her. She's Molly Weasley II, for crying out loud. And _Salazar_, she doesn't even know his name.

(It's Chaskel Levinson, she finds out just a few seconds later, but he thinks that's the worst name in the world, so everybody calls him Chas; she decides this instant that she's not going to fall for this… loser. And she's going to call him Chaskel, thank you very much.)

He opens her textbook and doesn't smile at her for the entire hour, acting like a true Ravenclaw, slowly explaining every bloody thing there is about constellations and supernova's and all that other nonsense.

But when she eventually agrees to see him the next evening to continue their tutoring, he smiles at her again and she quickly looks away.

"Good night," she mutters, turning around, collecting her things, leaving him sitting there in the far away corner of the library, hoping that he didn't catch her blush.

It takes her a week and she learns everything about solar science and dying stars and planetary nebula, which turns out to be some sort of glowing, colorful emission, and then she's finally sort of ok with the fact that she's stuck with him for the next two months. He grins at her, making a silly joke about her being a cold-hearted Slytherin and she just laughs at him and calls him "Chaskel" and maybe, it's not as bad as it was before.

The next evening she watches him for a minute, sitting there with his textbook in front of him and his roll of parchment full of ink stains. And then she realizes that he's actually quite handsome. She quickly shakes the thought away as soon as he catches her staring at him though, and spends the entire evening avoiding his eyes.

The evening after that it's Friday and they don't have classes tomorrow morning and she accidentally stays much longer than the hour they agreed on. She doesn't learn anything about Astronomy, but she does find out that he's muggle-born, and has three sisters and a little brother called Boaz, who's only seven years old. He tells her that his mum is Jewish and his dad's Italian and that he's always secretly wanted to be a competition windsurfer, before he found out he was magic. He admits to her that he didn't know a thing about the _Potters _and the _Weasleys _and the war_, _before he met Dominique. He also mentions that he's sometimes a little bit freaked out when Professor Lupin's hair suddenly changes color during class and she laughs at that. She tells him that she was quite freaked out at first as well, but now that Teddy – "Professor Lupin, I mean" – is practically part of her family, she's not so surprised anymore. He asks her about her cousins and she describes every single one of them to him, actually smiling for once when she thinks about her family.

They talk and talk and she smiles and blushes a little, because her leg is slightly pressing into his and he's just… Well, before she knows it they're the only ones left in the entire library and Madame Pince kicks them out, because it's way over closing hours, and they're "supposed to be in their common rooms!".

He wishes her good night with a smile. "See you tomorrow?"

She bites her lip, hesitates for a second, because tomorrow is Saturday, and she's didn't really plan on spending her free evening with him. But she nods anyway.

He takes her to the top of the Astronomy tower, straight after dinner the next day, and they talk about stars and heartache and living up to expectations and she actually feels like he might understand.

He doesn't kiss her and she doesn't expect him too (she's still not sure if she even wants him to), and he's just an awkward fourth year Ravenclaw and she's practically a part of Slytherin's own royalty, so she supposes it wouldn't work any way.

But he does notice she's crying when she tells him about her break-up with Jonathan Zambini and he brushes away her tears and it's the most affectionate thing a boy has ever done to her.

:::

When she passes her exams in June she runs up to him and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him full on his mouth in front of at least half the school and the majority of her family.

He smiles at her and kisses her back and she thinks all those long nights of studying were definitely worth it.


	3. JamesNova

**A/N: First of all, the OC in this piece is Nova Greengrass and she appeared very briefly in my Victoire/Lysander one-shot ****called "The Edge Of Glory" and I'm pretty sure her name is also mentioned once or twice in my other one-shot "Blinding The Lights". Anyway, it comes down on the fact that she's Daphne Greengrass' daughter and I am planning on writing more stories about her, which will define her character far better than this one, so I'm sorry if she's still a little bit vague at this point. Secondly, I'm not really sure what I think about this one, but I kind of like the idea of this pairing, though, so I thought I should give it a try. Please tell me what you think! :) Enjoy! - Lauren**

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**Pairing: James/Nova**

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"_Girl, you're impossible girl,_

_You know that's it's true,_

_Oh, oh, no matter what you do, _

_I'd cross the world for someone like you."_

_- Someone Like You – The Summer Set - _

:::

If there's one thing they've learned from playing Quidditch, it's this: it doesn't matter if you're on the losing hand; if you change the rules, you change the game.

:::

She knows she's a show-off. She's exactly like her mother, isn't she? Equally pretty, equally witty, equally talented and equally desperate for attention. But the thing is, she _knows _she's better than him, so it's only fair that she wants to show it, right? She's faster and lighter and extremely agile and she's willing to give absolutely everything to win a game. So this is just another one of those things she has to prove to him, right?

Too bad not everything is going exactly according to plan.

:::

They're lying on the grass right in the middle of the empty Quidditch pitch and holy, _freaking _hell – he's kissing her.

He's pulling at her shirt and his hands are in her curls and his tongue – oh _Salazar, _she shouldn't be doing this. But for some odd reason it seems impossible for her brain to turn her thoughts into reality, so for once she acts completely on her intuition, wrapping her arms around his neck, pushing herself closer against him. He softly moans, rolling them over so that she's lying on top now and Merlin_, _did she mention that she _really _shouldn't be doing this?

It's James Sirius Potter, for God's sake.

And it doesn't matter that he's got this _smile_ and his eyes are absolutely gorgeous and he has those little freckles on his nose and cheekbones which drive her absolutely crazy. It doesn't matter that arguing with him kind of makes her day and that detention is no longer the most horrible thing in the world, when he's around. It doesn't matter that his entire family completely adores him. It doesn't matter that her heart flutters when she watches him laugh with Lily or play chess with Hugo or help Roxie with her homework the entire afternoon, even though she's always been kind of a sucker for boys that. It's doesn't matter. It _shouldn't _matter, because he's also an arrogant asshole most of the time and he's way too competitive for it's own good and he thinks that he's the bloody reincarnation of Godric Gryffindor himself, for heaven's sake!

And didn't her mother tell her not to fall in love with boys like him?

:::

(he's kissing her though, and it feels like her heart's about to explode right out of her chest)

:::

He knows he's good enough. He's a Seeker, like his father was, and there's nothing in the world he loves more than flying around on a broomstick. Some day, he thinks, he might play for a real team. He's got the perfect body for it, the proper insight, the spirit for the game. He'll earn is money with doing exactly what he loves and no one is going to sabotage it for him. No one. And this is just to show her who's best, once and for all, isn't it?

Too bad not everything is going exactly according to plan.

:::

She's standing right in front of him, back straightened, eyes narrowed, broom clenched tightly in her hand.

"What are _you_ doing here, Potter?"

He rolls his eyes. "What does it look like, Greengrass? Ballet lessons?"

She takes a step closer to him, blue eyes blazing with fire. "Shut it, James. I'm not getting into this with you _again_. You _know _the pitch is mine tonight. I even signed in on that fucking thing you put up in the locker room last week."

He grins arrogantly at her. "Well, well. Watch your language, Nova. People put a lot of their time and effort in the Registration Schedule."

She glares at him. "Then bloody _do what it says_ and get off of the pitch right now!"

He walks forward and smiles, slowly puts his hand in it's pocket and takes out the small familiar golden ball, holding it out to her. "I've got a different idea. I'll race you for it. What do you say?"

Her eyes narrow. She's tired and angry and actually she would really like to just tell him to _suck it up _and leave the pitch, but this is a challenge and she's never the one to deny a challenge. Besides, this is kind of a routine for them anyways.

She closes her hand over the Snitch in palm. "Deal. Winner gets the pitch. Loser gets out."

He winks and his face is way closer to hers than she'd normally allow, but before he can say something she yanks up her arm and releases the snitch. Within a second both of them are on their brooms and flying around the pitch, now chasing the little golden ball like their lives depend on it.

It's over way sooner than they thought.

After a minute or so they both accidentally lost sight of the Snitch and now she's flying on the right side of the pitch and he's on the left, and then they suddenly catch the golden flicker again, right in the middle. She bends forward, speeding up as fast as she can, but on the other side James is getting close dangerously fast as well. _No way_, it flashes through her mind, she's not going to let him win this one. It's only a couple of meters now. Almost there, almost there…

And then the snitch suddenly changes direction and speeds away.

They crash right into each other, circle downwards through the air in a mess of equipment and broomsticks and the other person and before either of them can really comprehend what's going on they hit the ground with a loud crack and several cries of pain.

She struggles with her broom and her elbow hurts and then everything around them just _stops_.

He's lying half on top of her, arm spread out over her stomach, face mere inches from her own.

She looks at him, thinks for a second, and then she just laughs. She laughs out loud and the sound fills up the air and she just can't help it. Because really, it's all just a game to them, isn't it? All of this – the competition, the anger, the hate – it's all just a game. And they're both way too good at it.

"Move, Potter."

He laughs with her. And he thinks she's actually kind of _really _attractive when she's looks at him like that. And so he kisses her and it's more exciting (and way scarier) than any Quidditch match he's ever played in his entire life.

:::

(she kisses him back though, and it feels like his heart's about to explode right out of his chest)


	4. ScorpiusDominique

:::

**Pairing: Scorpius/Dominique**

:::

It's just a summer at the beach.

And _she _shouldn't be the one spending it with him.

:::

They kind of accidentally end up spending the last week of the summer vacation before their sixth year together at her house, because Albus and Lily are coming over, and they drag Scorpius along with them, as if it doesn't even matter.

She runs straight into him in the kitchen, wearing nothing more than Quidditch shorts and an old blue polo from her brother, stammering "What are you doing here?" and blushing furiously at the way his golden hair seems to shine even a little bit more and his blue eyes seem to be just a little lighter than she remembered. He quickly apologizes – always the gentleman, always the better-raised, nicer version of his father – and runs a hand through his hair, suggesting that he should just go home. But according to Al and Lily none of that is necessary because "You and Scorp are friends, aren't you, Dom?" (Lily) and "You can probably cheer him up a little bit, now that his girlfriend is spending the entire summer in France." (Albus)

But honestly, maybe this is not the best idea.

:::

You see, there are rules and they know it. They are not supposed to spend this much time together and they know it. He'll always belong to Rose, and they _know_ it.

But the way she looks at him, not able to keep her eyes focused on anything else but him, and the way he gives her that arrogant, confident grin, making her whole world light up every single time again, _that_ goes against every single rule in the book.

:::

He kind of forgets about the real world for a while, because this is what summer feels like.

Running around on the beach; swimming; talking; spending time with her family; sitting in front of her house with their feet in the sand and their eyes on the sea. His skin becomes sunburned in a day, his hair is soon an uncontrollable mess of sand and salty sea water, and to be honest, she's not much better off, but it's ok, because it's fun and everything's better than being locked up in Malfoy Mansion.

They've been lying on their backs in the sand, looking at the sky for hours, when the storm comes.

Her brother is out of town, her father already went back to work, her mother is on her way to Diagon Alley to buy new school supplies and Lily and Albus went to see the Scamanders today, so it's only Victoire left, but she doesn't pay attention to them, which means they're practically alone.

The first drop falls exactly on her cheek and she laughs and wipes it away, pretending she doesn't care about the rain. But soon enough it's pouring right out of the sky on top of them and she's laughing and screaming and she yanks his arm up, dragging him with her, running around the beach, until they're both completely soaked through.

He thinks her laughter mixed with the thunder is one of the nicest things he's ever heard.

When the finally approach the house the wooden porch feels rough and sandy beneath their bare feet, and for a second it crosses his mind that they've left their flip flops on the beach, but before he can even consider going back, she grabs his shirt and tugs him under the roof and he watches her laugh out loud, like this is the funniest thing she's done in a very long time and he can't help but stare at her, completely soaked and still as beautiful as ever.

She run a hand through her soaked hair – as if she's already worried about the curly mess it'll become and widely smiles at him and suddenly he backs away, because isn't this something he should experience with Rose? It's as if she realizes it at the exact same second because she blushes immediately and quickly turns around, dropping down on the porch, with her back against the wall, watching the rain.

It takes him a few seconds to decide what he's going to do, but then she tugs on his arm and drags him down, until he sits right next to her.

"What would your father think of this?"

He bites his lip and thinks, not exactly sure what she means. _This, _the storm? Or _this_, the way he looks at her like he has never looked at Rose.

"He'd hate this," he answers exactly, quickly referring to the storm, before it gets complicated. "He doesn't even leave the house when it rains."

She smiles. "Louis and I used to play outside when it rained for hours, because the sand gets all muddy, you see, and we'd try and make Victoire as dirty as possible, 'cause she hated it."

Her hand accidentally brushes his own and for one second he dares to glance sideways.

And maybe it's not really like love, because they're not even a cliché and nowadays clichés are the only things that count, right? But sitting here, talking to her, _almost _holding her hand, even though he has a girlfriend and they are _family _for crying out loud, he just doesn't want to go back to school.

:::

It's just a summer at the beach.

And _she _shouldn't be the one spending it with him.

(it feels a little bit like love, though)

:::

**A/N: I'm not really sure about this. I absolutely adore this pairing, but I still don't know if this is what I wanted to write for them haha. Please review, and tell me what you think. Reviews really do make my day! – Lauren **


	5. LilyLorcan

**A/N: I'm in love with this pairing. Tell me what you think about them! And I'd be very honored if you liked this enough to favorite, but please leave a review when you do so. Enjoy! - Lauren **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or One Tree Hill in any way. **

:::

"_People that are meant to be together always find their way in the end."_

_- Brooke Davis, One Tree Hill_

:::

You see, it's all just a mess of contradictions, of secrets and insecurities, of fighting to keep on standing tall between name-sakes and twin brothers and a hidden, burning love for theatre, shared inside their hearts.

But there's no girl in the world like her.

And she's never really known a boy like him.

(and this is not an act; this is for real)

:::

He thinks theatre-wise. He watches the world in scenes and he loves it more than anything else in the world; more than magic, more than flying, even more than the first time he ever ate pancakes, and that really says a lot.

When he was little, he used to go to this old theatre behind his house, sneak inside through the backdoor and spend hours and hours, hiding in the dark, watching the actors speak, watching the director do his job, watching the whole world becoming something completely different in merely a few seconds.

He'd lie on the dusty stage and write and write and write and _write_; all these monologues, all these dialogues, until his fingers were stained with ink and every piece of paper told a different story.

She's the best actress he knows. And he's been watching her the world in scenes for years, so of course she plays the main part.

He thinks that it's a little bit like this:

:::

**(act 1, scene 1)**

:::

It's 7 a.m. on the day of his tenth birthday and she's just a little girl with pretty hair and pretty eyes and the cheekiest smile he's ever seen. She's still dressed in her light blue pajama shorts, there's sugar on her cheek and she's standing on his doorstep, carrying the biggest birthday cake in the world.

"Happy tenth birthday," she grins and he rubs the sleep out of his eyes as quickly as he can, guessing that this day is going to be great.

He's absolutely right.

They eat the cake, sitting on the swinging bench, without plates or forks or anything. They play this game called Quidditch-without-brooms with his brother. They built a fortress in his bedroom and listen to his father tell stories about magical beasts and it's one of the best birthdays he's ever had.

She kisses him, right on his cheek, just before she leaves, and it's such a typical Lily thing to do, because she's never afraid to do anything, and so he knows that he shouldn't think too much of it.

But when he waves as she crosses the street and runs home, the sticky feeling of her lips on his cheek, sort of does this weird thing with his heart. And he turns around and gives his mum the biggest hug he can, because he thinks he'll explode, if he doesn't give some of this strange new feeling in his heart away.

:::

**(act ****1, scene 5 – script version)**

The boy: "Lily?"

The girl: "Yeah."

The boy: "Are you scared?"

The girl: "Why would I be scared?"

The boy: "Well, what if it all goes wrong? What if it turns out we're not magic after all, and they send us straight away, back home?"

The girl: "Trust me, we are magic."

The boy: "But what if we end up in different Houses? We'll still be friends right?"

The girl: "Of course we will."

The boy: "So you won't forget about me, then?"

The girl: "I will never forget about you. You're my best friend. You're my best friend in the whole wide world."

:::

**(act 2, scene 1)**

:::

This is not they way they planned things.

:::

**(act 4, scene 1)**

He sits at the end of the Ravenclaw table and he's pretty much invisible.

She sparkles right in the middle of Slytherin and she's the centre of attention.

She forgets about him the second she walks into Hogwarts, and they're no longer best friends and he'll stay forever in the shadows, while she shines in the spotlight.

And the worst thing is, she doesn't even know what's happening to her. And no one around her seems to care. No one but the idiotic, blonde boy with glasses and the _gorgeous _twin brother and this strange passion for theatre, who's watching her in the Great Hall, with her perfect face and perfect hair and perfect skin and eyes looking at her surroundings as if none of it is even _worth_ looking at.

She stopped being real, as soon as she walked out of the train.

And it's probably the worst contradiction in the world.

:::

**(act 6, scene 3****, - part 1)**

It takes them five years, several ignored attempts at making having a conversation like they used to, one roughly out of control Quidditch match and three weeks of detention, which neither of them really deserve – she didn't even say anything and he's only the Quidditch commentator for crying out loud – before they finally _talk_ again.

She accidentally locks them up in the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom and at first he's furiously mad at her (the detention itself had been worse enough) but eventually they end up sitting on the floor and she says something to him and he says something back and it's a little bit like talking.

It's not like it used to be.

But maybe it's a start.

:::

**(act 6, scene 3, - part 2)**

_Hi, I'm Lorcan. Hi, I'm Lily. Let's start over__, shall we?_

:::

**(act 6, scene 6****)**

She tells him that Teddy is going to marry Victoire, during one of their last detentions together and she cries on his shoulder for almost the entire time.

He watches her break right in front of him and it's like his heart splits in two, because he feels _so sorry _for her, _so sorry_. But for one moment she's completely real again, and he loves her for it. There's mascara all over his shirt, but she's crying real tears of real heartbreak, and it's the first time in years that he wonders how all of this has been for _her_.

It's the first time that he realizes that she's also a part of this broken friendship. And maybe he kind of misjudged her about it.

"Teddy is an idiot," he tells her. "He doesn't deserve you, and he's the one going to regret this, Lils. _The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves._"

And then it happens. She turns her head. "That's Shakespeare." Her eyes light up in a second. "You just quoted Shakespeare."

"Oh, well…"

They spend the next hour talking about theatre, and whenever he quotes a line, she finishes the sentence before even before he's even halfway there, and he thinks he falls in love with her all over again.

:::

**(act 7, scene 4)**

Sometimes he thinks she never really stopped being his best friend, even though she practically ignored him for five years.

She drags him down with her to the old theatre in Hogsmeade and they watch almost every single show together – talking about how he'll be a director one day, and she'll be an actress (because let's face it, she's rather good at it)

And when she smiles at him and grabs his hand, just before the lights go off, he finally feels like he's no longer alone. Like she's back, right where she always belonged to be.

:::

**(act 9, scene 5)**

Of course, they argue sometimes, and she's _Slytherin _after all, so sometimes she still acts like she doesn't care about him, and it hurts, but she _gets _him like no one else does and lately he's been quite aware of the fact that he can make her blush if he wants to, and he kind of enjoys it.

So they spend their days together, on top of the Astronomy tower, beside the lake or in the back of the old theatre. She whispers lines to him during Transfiguration and she acts out her favorite monologues in empty corridors, and they pass each other scribbled notes, with scenes written out on them.

When it's his birthday, she bakes him a cake.

She drops down on his bed in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, grinning, licking the sugar of her lips, chatting all this and all that about unimportant stuff and he watches her and keeps on smiling the entire time.

Because the girl in front of him shines, and he's no longer invisible.

:::

**(act 10, scene 10 – script version)**

The girl: "I'm really sorry, you know."

The boy: "What?"

The girl: "I said I'm sorry. About everything. I didn't realize I was that mean to you."

The boy: "Don't worry about it."

- Intermezzo –

The girl: "You know, maybe we're the kind of people they should write a tragedy about."

The boy: "We're not. Not anymore."

:::

You see, it all ends with this:

He never said "I love you" to anyone, _ever_ before in his entire life, and then he just goes and screams at her, fists clenched with anger, completely unaware of the impact of his words, all the way across the street, during Christmas holidays in seventh year.

She stops walking away from him immediately.

She turns around and he doesn't even remember what they were fighting about, because he's never seen her look at him like _that_.

And then she walks back, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him full on his mouth.

(and this is not an act; this is for real)


	6. JamesRose

:::

**Pairing: ****James/Rose**

:::

_It__'s a little bit of everything – and there's no possibility of going back._

:::

They're the contradiction of all contradictions.

But then again, maybe they're not.

And really, that's kind of the whole point of it all, isn't it?

:::

_It'__s a little bit like laughing so much that you're crying. _

:::

He's ten years old when they're at the Burrow on a blazing hot day in the middle of July and she pushes her entire ice cream cone right in his face.

He's never laughed so hard in his entire life.

It serves her right, really, because she's only seven years old at the time, and he's been teasing her _all day_, because she's way more fun to tease than his baby sister Lily. But now he's got his punishment, because there is vanilla in his eyes and strawberry dripping down his neck and he's laughing, laughing, laughing so hard that he almost can't breathe. And she just stares at him, eyes full of angry tears, because she's not enjoying this at all – and he simply wipes his hand across his cheeks and licks the ice cream off his fingers.

"Rosie…"

She frowns, all stubborn and angry – the perfect combination of her parents – and she pushes him against his shoulder.

"It's not funny, James!"

He's still laughing out loud and then he wraps his arms around her and hugs her close against his body, spinning her around, kissing her cheeks and forehead until she's completely covered in the melting ice cream as well.

She struggles to get away, and tries to act angry, but she's actually laughing almost just as hard as him, right through her tears.

:::

_It's a little bit like crying so much that you'__re laughing._

:::

He's sixteen years old and she's only thirteen, so whoever the little _bastard _may be that broke her heart, he sure as hell is going to pay for it.

She sneaks right up the stairs into the boys' dormitory and crawls up into bed with him, wrapping his tired arm around her shoulder, burying her face into the crook of his neck, the cruel evidence of _heartbreak _written out with the tears all over her face.

"James…"

Her voice is slurred with pain and the second he notices she's shaking, he's fully awake.

"Rosie, what happened?"

She cries into his pillow and tells him everything and he just holds her close to him and watches her sleep and protects her all through the night until the dawn breaks and he's got to leave her alone, to go to Quidditch practice.

When she walks into the Great Hall, though, a few hours later, she finds out that Felix Goldstein is now in the Hospital Wing with a broken nose and a strange charm on his sleeve, that makes him keep on poking himself with his own wand.

She looks at James from across the table, and he just smiles at her, and even though her cheeks are still wet with tears, she kind of feels like laughing as well.

:::

_It's a little bit like crying and laughing at the same time._

:::

He's twenty-three years old and he's lying with his back on the ground, in the pouring rain and she's lying right next to him, softly smiling at the way the rain seems to wash _everything _off of their shoulders.

"You know, people have this weird opinion on rain," she starts off. "They think you're not supposed to let yourself get wet by it. Like it's bad for you or anything. That's why they invented those stupid umbrella's and stuff."

He softly turns his gaze and grins. "People are ridiculous."

She kisses him, full on his mouth and he kisses her back. And maybe it's what people could call love. But that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?

:::

_You see, i__t's actually a little bit of everything; of laughing and crying and ice cream and boyfriends and talking in the rain. It's all shades of wrong and all kinds of right and really, it's contradiction after contradiction, but maybe she loves him a little bit and maybe he loves her little bit back, and that's sort of an equality, isn't it?_

_So maybe it's also kind of ok. _


	7. LilyChasDominique

**Pairing: Lily/Chas/****Dominique**

_No one really knows about this way you feel._

_- When The Rain Starts - Bertolf_

:::

Here's a secret; people think she behaves like this, because she doesn't _care_. No one really understands.

She's just Lily Luna Potter and no one _ever _understands.

:::

Here's a secret: sometimes she wishes he would hate her.

She's mean and arrogant and she bitches to everybody about absolutely everything. She's reckless, doesn't care about rules, is rude to professors on a daily basis and she never, _ever _stops, even when it means she'll get in trouble. She flirts too much, wears her skirts too short, walks around the school like she owns the place. She makes fun of other people and shamelessly enjoys the way she can embarrass them with one single action. She misuses her powers, misuses the power of her father's name, keeps on acting cold and cruel all the time and _still _manages to be one of the most popular girls in school.

So sometimes she just wishes he would hate her. She wishes he would scream at her, the way that James screams at Nova Greengrass _all the damn time_ – anger burning through his veins, all of his emotions boiling over. She wishes that someday he'll just _snap_, that she'll finally manage to do something so bad, so _mean _that it will drive him over the edge. She pictures him standing in front of her, brownish curls a wild mess, eyes flashing with hate, comments as sharp as a knife. Because that's what she _deserves_, doesn't she?

Instead he's her best friend in the whole wide world, even though she's conceited and horrible and a _bitch._ And whenever she does something mean again, he just softly (sadly) smiles at her and pretends he doesn't notice.

It kind of breaks her heart.

:::

Here's a secret: he was her first kiss and she never thought she'd remember it this clearly.

It's burning sunlight and the smell of freshly mowed grass and a boy and a girl and all sorts of _might have been_'sand _could have been_'s and possibilities that never were supposed to come true.. He jokes and grins and he pushes her around, because it's summer and they're best friends and it's just what they do.

She kisses him, though, one day, completely out of the blue, and it's not the best timing, because Albus and James are right next to her, _watching_, but she does it anyway because she feels like it and she hasn't turned into the person she'll become yet, so it's still perfectly normal to not care what other people think.

She kisses him and he tastes like watermelon lemonade.

And just before her brothers get to him, she catches a glimpse of his shocked expression, the blush on his cheeks, lips still slightly parted, and she's feels extremely proud of herself instantly, because no other girl has ever made him blush like this before.

:::

Here's a secret: when they were little she and Dominique used to share everything.

Clothes, toys, talent, family, _everything_.

Then Dom starts dating Chas Levinson in fourth year and she just stands there, watching them, never included ever again.

(not everything is meant for sharing)

:::

Here's a secret: he might be a little bit like the boys in the movies.

He's not _that_ handsome. Yeah sure, he's got those eyesand they match kind of perfectly with his hair, but their lightness is also a little bit freaky. He's tall, but not too tall, only a couple of inches taller than she is actually. His skin is a little too pale and his Hogwarts uniform is always messed up and there are probably a thousand of little quirks, she finds annoying about him. But whenever he wraps his arms around her on her birthday or on family gatherings or just because he feels like it, she notices that her head fits kind of perfectly in the crook of his shoulder, and she has to _fightfightfight _the urge to never let him go again.

He's not really her type. Actually, he's a little bit of a loser. He doesn't do spontaneous and he always follows the rules and he never tries anything new, which irritates her immensely. And yeah, sure, he jokes around all the time and he can make everybody laugh. But he's also kind of awkward, with his fascination for Astronomy (another thing she and Dom never shared) and the ink stains on his hands from falling asleep on top of his books again. He's way too kind too her (because let's face it, she is _awful_) and he has this weird thing for Famous Last Words. And he's a little bit of a loser. But at least he says things like they _matter_, and she kind of envies him for it.

But here's a secret: one day, when she's damned it all to hell and starts flirting with Professor Lupin right in front of the entire class, her skirt riding up her leg, batting her eyelashes at Teddy in the most affectionate way she can, a note drops on her desk.

_You are too good for that._

She hates him and loves him for it at the same time, because it's exactly what would happen in the movies. And she just can't let him _do _that to her anymore.

:::

Here's a secret: she used to be the best at everything.

But whenever Dom walks into the room, it's kind of impossible to compete, because Dom is like the succeeded part of the friendship, while she is just the failure. Every single thing she cares about, Dom does it better. And sometimes it's a little too exhausting for a sixteen year old girl.

:::

Here's a secret: she cries when he tells her he loves her.

They somehow end up lying on their backs on the roof of the Burrow together on a blazing hot summer evening, just after graduation, and he tells her he asked Dom to marry him. She starts crying, right there, even though she never cries, because she absolutely _despises _it and she just doesn't do vulnerability.

He frowns. "Lils… Are you ok?"

"Yeah," she chokes out, because she's still the best at lying, even though Dominique beats her at everything else. "Of course. I'm just – I'm so happy for you guys."

He sighs, relieved, and he doesn't even know. He doesn't even have a _clue_.

"I love you," he whispers when he wraps his arm around her as her tears wet his t-shirt. "You know that, right? You're my best friend."

She nods into his shoulder. "I love you too,"

:::

Here's a secret: she says it and she _means _it, but it's all sorts of heartbreak at the same time.

And she's not sure that it will ever go away.


End file.
